As always, too much time has passed since my last post. Luckily, this post should be long enough to make up for that!
This past weekend, Jessica, Leah and I traveled to Beyin to see the Stilt Village, Nzulezu. For those of you keeping track, we were going to go to the Volta Region; however, that trip has had to be post-poned due to some instability in the area regarding two local groups. As lovely as Accra is, we did not want to stay in the city on a weekend that we had set aside to travel, especially since we had already booked time off, and we are eager to see more of the country. As such, we decided to organize a trip to Nzulezu, a village situated about six hours away by tro tro (though as many of you have guessed by now, timing is not a concrete thing here in Ghana).
Planning the trip on short notice proved to be less difficult than we thought. We consulted our ever trustworthy Bradt guide to Ghana to figure out what there was to see and do in the area, and where we could find the best places to stay. The guide lead us to the Beyin Beach Resort, which is situated next door to the Wildlife Society where we would start our canoe trip to Nzulezu. This seemed convenient, the price was right, and the online reviews had nothing but good things to say about the place, so we decided to take a leap and book two nights there. Other than that, it was just a matter of figuring out how to find a trotro to take us to Beyin - luckily, the resort's website was very helpful in this regard and since we live in the capital, we can pretty much get tros to anywhere fairly easily.
We began our journey around 6:30am on Friday when we stepped out onto the porch only to be immediately drenched in one of Ghana's unpredictable rainstorms. Deciding that the weekend could be cursed, we took a chance and waited it out. This ended up being successful, and we were on our way only an hour later. Having heard that it can take anywhere from 7 minutes to 7 hours for a trotro to fill up before it takes off, we prepared for the worst; luckily, we were treated with a best case scenario in which it only took one hour before we were on our way. The ride to Takoradi took about 4 hours (one of which being dedicated to just getting across the city). Once we saw glimpses of palm tree forests lining white sand beaches, we became very excited and the trip did not seem too long. From Takoradi we got a trotro straight to Beyin. This trip lasted another 2 hours, and was fairly terrifying as we were weaving through forests in a rickety van full of people, going well over any speed limit that would be set on such a road in Canada. We of course ended up unharmed, as expected, and so could do nothing but laugh about the experience. This nervous laughter continued as the tro just kept going farther and farther down literally deserted roads, but little did we know our tro driver was not only stopping in Beyin, but bringing us right to our resort! We settled in for the night, shaky and giddy with the travel experience after a delicious meal in the resort's restaurant.
The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast and headed over to the Wildlife Society to begin our day touring the 600 year old Nzulezu. The story goes that the people who settled there were originally from Mali and were lead to Nzulezu by a snail! We met our guide, Charles (who liked to be called 50 Cent), climbed into a narrow canoe, and set off for the village. The ride lasted 45 minutes, and I think I must have been smiling the whole time. While the wetlands and jungles looked still and empty, the sound of the creatures which call them their home was almost deafening in some places. At the same time, it was one of the most peaceful experiences I may have ever had. Our canoe slid through the black, reflective water without a sound, and seemed to cause no disruption. This is significant as people have been using this route to get to the village for centuries. Where there was evidence of man, it was still natural-looking, such as the fish barriers made from bamboo that were visible in some areas.
The river opened onto a large pond which was again very still and this time more quiet. A few strokes of the paddle and you could see the village - even though people say it is built entirely on stilts, you almost have to see it to believe it. About 500 people live there, but the village looks quite tiny. Each row houses a separate family, and each child (of which there were many, all eager to say hello and have their picture snapped), has their own boat by about the age of 10; this means that all are very comfortable in the water. Walking around the village was eye-opening. Electricity had only been installed in April of this year, but already stereos were booming inside many homes. Though there was not wealth by any monetary means, there was a sense of community that was palpable. The village was worth the long journey, as was the canoe journey itself to get to the village.
After we reached land (narrowly missing the rain), we finished the day with a tour of Fort Appollonia, owned by the British and then the Dutch, which provided us with some history of the area as well as a chance to see small rooms where female slaves were held. The fort itself was almost beautiful, and the views from the top were worthwhile as well.
The fort, it turns out, was situated on the same beach as our resort and so it was just a 10 minute walk back "home". On the way, we ran into a boy of about 10. I said hello, and with a very serious look, he asked me "Do you like coconuts?". I replied in the affirmative, and he asked if I wanted one. On a high from a relaxing and fascinating day, I said sure and followed him to a tree almost right on the beach. He and his brothers got us each a large coconut and opened them up for us so we could drink from them right away. What a way to try my first taste of coconut water! It was sweet, delicious, and filling! We gave them a cedi each for their trouble, and continued our walk on the beach to the resort. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach and ate dinner at the restaurant again, splitting some wine and finishing a great vacation with stories, laughter, and brownies. Perfect end to a perfect weekend in paradise!
The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast and headed over to the Wildlife Society to begin our day touring the 600 year old Nzulezu. The story goes that the people who settled there were originally from Mali and were lead to Nzulezu by a snail! We met our guide, Charles (who liked to be called 50 Cent), climbed into a narrow canoe, and set off for the village. The ride lasted 45 minutes, and I think I must have been smiling the whole time. While the wetlands and jungles looked still and empty, the sound of the creatures which call them their home was almost deafening in some places. At the same time, it was one of the most peaceful experiences I may have ever had. Our canoe slid through the black, reflective water without a sound, and seemed to cause no disruption. This is significant as people have been using this route to get to the village for centuries. Where there was evidence of man, it was still natural-looking, such as the fish barriers made from bamboo that were visible in some areas. 
After we reached land (narrowly missing the rain), we finished the day with a tour of Fort Appollonia, owned by the British and then the Dutch, which provided us with some history of the area as well as a chance to see small rooms where female slaves were held. The fort itself was almost beautiful, and the views from the top were worthwhile as well.
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